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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27371224">If Anyone Can</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardDuckProducktions/pseuds/AwkwardDuckProducktions'>AwkwardDuckProducktions</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, CC-2224 | Cody Needs a Hug, CC-2224 | Cody is a Little Shit, Canon Compliant, Chronic Pain, Could Be Read as Pre-Relationship, Gen, Headaches &amp; Migraines, Hopeful Ending, Hurt CC-2224 | Cody, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Suicide, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Seizures, Sickfic, bastard cody is the only valid cody, cody and Obi-wan are very bad patients, cody loves his men very dearly but sometimes they really push the limits, don't ignore migraines, mention of nightmares, mention of pornographic materials, nothing good ever happens to clones, rex and cody talk shit about anakin all the time</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:20:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,130</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27371224</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardDuckProducktions/pseuds/AwkwardDuckProducktions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Blood is thicker than water , so they say. The clones were a testament to that. While they may be of the exact same genetic material, batchmates and the bonded were considered two very different things. It wasn't like they had a chance to make friends outside of other clones. Between their hectic schedules and the legitimacy of their sentience being constantly doubted, having a non-clone friend was a rarity. Was General Kenobi Cody's friend? That train of thought gave him a migraine to consider.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>CC-2224 | Cody &amp; Obi-Wan Kenobi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>209</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>If Anyone Can</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All medics know they have to report if any clones started having lasting medical issues. With how often clones found themselves near explosions, trapped underwater, choked, or repeatedly hit in the head, it was no surprise issues did arise. Migraines were common, especially for the 212th. Though no one would call them as they were. Cody made sure his men understood they were to never refer to anything as "chronic." He himself never referred to his own issues as such. Medics reported to him of clones with chronic issues, but he knew they were required to go over his head if <em> he </em> had chronic issues.</p><p> </p><p>Which only meant one thing.</p><p> </p><p>So no one of the 212th had "chronic" problems. At least not on record. Medicine and aids were smuggled around the garrison like naughty holos, which Cody would pretend not to see. Both were needed, despite what the Republic thought. He still had nightmares of the first few months on the field when he tried to follow the "no pornographic materials rule."</p><p> </p><p>He still had nightmares of men taking their health into their own hands.</p><p> </p><p>The most hubristic of his men would slip him some medicine when they assumed he needed it. Many times, Cody had found packets of pain pills or powder tucked into the back breastplate of his armor or in his calf-guards. These he would pass along to a shiny clutching their head, breathing cautiously as if he wouldn't be in the same position the moment he was alone.</p><p>His own migraines were getting worse. That was the issue with never referring to anything as "chronic." -A situation that if he was natborn, it would be resolved. Not that he was bitter about it, just that when his migraine struck, the only things he could think about was the pain and the thought of wanting it to end in any way. But he didn't want to give medics even the opportunity to notice anything is amiss. He trusted them no doubt, they wouldn't be allowed to be medics if he didn't trust them. But Cody knew the struggle of deciding where loyalties lie when they seemed at opposite ends.</p><p>So avoiding the medics tents all together was the obvious logical choice in the long run. Part of the Commander training was field medics, so he can handle most scratches and small wounds by himself. Just in his first aid kit, there's two bottles of whiskey. One for him and one for his returning patient and fellow med tent escapee General Obi-Wan Kenobi.</p><p><em> Blood is thicker than water </em>, so they say. The clones were a testament to that. While they may be of the exact same genetic material, batchmates and the bonded were considered two very different things. It wasn't like they had a chance to make friends outside of other clones. Between their hectic schedules and the legitimacy of their sentience being constantly doubted, having a non-clone friend was a rarity. Was General Kenobi Cody's friend? That train of thought gave him a migraine to consider.</p><p> </p><p>But still it was a question Cody had as he stood beside his general on the <em> Negotiator </em>, giving his debrief to the council. A question gave him a migraine on its own without the one already pounding in his head. Cody was lucky he was wearing his helmet, otherwise the whole council would watch him struggle to keep his eyes open. Lucklier still, every helmet had a muting function so no one could hear his deep breathing and little promises to get him through the meeting. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Get through this meeting and I will eat that chocolate bar I've been hiding from everyone else. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Get through this meeting and I will take a nap. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Get through this meeting and after I take a nap, I will take an actual shower. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Get through this meeting and next time I will tell shinies that the proper way to greet Wolffe is by howling. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"-the Separatist General managed to escape-" Cody wasn't really paying attention. He really didn't need to be there. He was <em> there </em> . On the <em> frontlines. </em>Why was he at this debriefing?</p><p>"-better news, we were-" <em> Better news, we were hoping for </em>, Cody finished the sentence in his head. If Yoda wanted better news, he should be on the field. Prove himself like Cody has time and time and time and time-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He was in Kamino's training room- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>What? No. He was in the <em> Negotiator </em>. The rooms were similar, in a way. But nothing would explain why he was thinking of-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He was in Kamino's training room 3- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>No, he was in the <em> Negotiator. </em>He was there with Kenobi-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He was in Kamino's training room 3, left empty- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"-It appears that I have overextended my abilities. Commander Cody, will you help me to my room?" Cody's suspicion screamed louder than his sudden stubborn <em> deja vu </em>. Kenobi? Admitting he needs help to the entire Jedi Council? That might be even more unreal than him being back on Kamino.</p><p>He nodded, remembering that he was muted. A dark day it would be if the generals realized that clones had the capability to talk right in front of them. Because they absolutely do- Rex and him had an ongoing private message talking specifically about Anakin. Kenobi said a curt goodbye and turned to the projection off. In a strangely leading move, his general wrapped an arm around his shoulders.</p><p>"If you will, Commander" Cody wrapped an arm around his back for support, the two making their way out. It was only when the door to the bridge closed and the two found themselves alone did Kenobi straighten up and looked at him with both concern and anger. "Cody, I think you're about to have a seizure and we need to get you to my room."</p><p>Cody tried to respond. His tongue laid like stone in his mouth. He was lucky that he was still on mute for whatever came out would have caused more worry. Kenobi rearranged their arms in reverse.</p><p>"Lean on me please."</p><p>
  <em> He was in Kamino's training room 3. It was empty- </em>
</p><p>"Cody?"</p><p>
  <em> He was in Kamino's training room 3. It was empty- </em>
</p><p>"Cody, look-"</p><p>
  <em> He was in Kamino's training room 3. It was empty- </em>
</p><p>"Cody!"</p><p><em> -and he was afraid </em>.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He won't lie, Cody has been in Kenobi's room before. It had been their bar, their infirmary, their place of comfort for nearing one year. He has been asleep in his room before too. One very crazy- <em> very drunk- </em> night, Cody had the horror of learning that his general sleeps like a grappling hook.</p><p>He has never woken up in his plastoids on Kenobi's bed with Kenobi looking at him in the way he usually reserves for Anakin.</p><p>"You need to eat." Even in his thick confusion, Cody could tell Kenobi was mad.</p><p>"Obi-" Words fell like rocks, clumsy hands struggled to pull off the suffocating armor.</p><p>"Nod if you want me to help you."</p><p>He nodded, despite the nausea. Obi-Wan knew how to free him from the plastoid, his assistance needed before. They used to joke as they worked it off, Cody was sure for his sake. A distraction from the oily sinking feeling at his core that would rise whenever he let his guard down. Removing someone's armor was a sign of complete trust, something Cody wished he had of anyone. But Obi-Wan worked methodically, starting with the breastplate and going down the arms. The only ones he removed from the bottom half were his calf-guards and boots, something Cody deeply appreciated. Once he didn't feel like he was swimming through banthaspit, he would remove the last pieces.</p><p>"Cody, you have to stay awake now." Oh, Kenobi was very mad. Not that Cody was trying to fall asleep, he was finally able to breathe wonderfully and deeply and his migraine attack left him jittery and weak. "Cody, I will get Knockout." <em> Knockout is an awful name for a medic </em>, Cody thought to himself. The name was already set by the time he got to the 212th, regrettably. </p><p>"Don't..." Reluctantly, he tried to force himself into a sitting position, only to need Obi-Wan to help when the room spun. "K'obi, it's just a headache..." Cody, like all clones, was not Force sensitive. They were trained in shielding, but to actually feel the Force was something none of them could do. So when he felt the room chill and the lights seem to dim like an ocean suddenly not meeting the shore, Cody knew that was the wrong thing to say.</p><p>"Cody," Obi-Wan's smile was colder than the shoulders the <em> vode </em> were usually greeted with, "you had a <em> kriffing </em>seizure." His sky blue eyes pierced through him like ice. Cody swallowed the heavy eight in his throat. His general took a careful sigh, the stolen ocean returning to its place with a stubborn control. Eyes closed and Cody was released from that icy bond. "Cody, I am surely one to talk but why don't you go to the medics for this? What if you had it in the middle of battle?"</p><p>"Why don't you go for your shoulder pains?" With clarity came anger. Still his head throbbed, the low lights of his room seared in his mind. "You are really one to talk... sir."</p><p>"Shoulder pains aren't going to make me lose consciousness on the field."</p><p>"Right, but they still locked up." Another reason he avoided the medics when his migraine flared, any sort of semblance of a filter was burned up in his lack of patience. "What happens if you're fighting Grievous and they lock up?"</p><p>“You know that this isn’t the same-”</p><p>“-You are putting our men in active risk-”</p><p>“-And you’re not?” They stared at each other, somewhere caught between co-commanders and friends. “Cody...” Obi-Wan stole another sigh, “I get not wanting to go to the medics for everything-”</p><p>“-You cannot talk to me about taking care of myself.”</p><p>“Then who can!” Obi-Wan yelled. “Tell me who can talk some sense into you and I will get them!”</p><p>A chill gripped Cody's heart. Never had he seen Obi-Wan yell- even at Anakin. Never would he have expected to be on the receiving end. </p><p>“I <em> am </em> taking care of myself.” Cody, however, never was one to just accept being yelled at.</p><p>“By not getting treated?”</p><p>“Because if I did go,” Cody couldn’t stop himself from saying the awful truth, no matter how much he screamed and pulled on his tongue. The truth came tumbling out anyways. “I would be decommissioned.”</p><p>And the anger, the rage dissipated from the air around his general. His friend. Shoulders dropped with the heavy weight. For one to be an acclaimed negotiator, to be left speechless, was a sight to behold. A sight Cody hated with every part of his being. It didn’t cause his own anger to leave, however.</p><p>“What do you think happens to clones with <em> kriff’d </em> up bodies, when it’s cheaper just to make a new one?” It was Obi-Wan who broke eye contact first, and not one bit of Cody wanted to apologize. He shouldn’t have asked if he didn’t want answers. "Most of the men here have some sort of condition that we have to suffer through because at least then we're here." There was no apology for honesty, Obi-Wan’s own words. "So yeah, you can get Knockout here. But when I get 'transferred,' you won't see me again. You don't keep faulty machinery around." The silence caged them, kept them in their place. Far too often they blurred the line between General and Commander. Jedi and Clone. Trapped in expectations and rules neither wanted to follow. Cody knew he should leave. Take his promised nap and pretend none of this happened. It would be for the best to leave, to forget all the times they had spent together, this growing almost-friendship he and Obi-Wan had. He was sorry, in a way. Natborns had to deal with heartaches for their entire life.</p><p>But it was Obi-Wan to be the one to apologize first, “I’m sorry-”</p><p>“-I don’t want your pity.” It came out as a growl, as anger and sadness for all who he had lost and all who continued to suffer. For all those in his ranks who had yet to learn the horrible truth.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan began again, “for my initial reaction. I had thought that your avoidance of the medbay was based on fear and not a matter of life or death.”</p><p>Life or death. Words never used for the <em> vode </em> . Easier to deny the hearts inside of them- the souls forced into them- when they themselves said things like “reconditioned” or “decommission.” There was a pain in the comfort of hearing someone agree. He could tell it to himself every time that he comforted a <em> vod </em> as wheezy gasps for air stilled. Every time he walked into the medbay and had to hear them scream out in pain or the silence of when there was nothing left in them. Every time his migraine spiked not knowing how many suffered silently with him. But to hear someone say he has a life out loud was another story.</p><p>His vision wavered from tears he held in for so long. A canteen was pressed into his hands, offered with a kind smile. Cody mumbled a thanks but couldn’t bring himself to drink. Even when, in a couple blinks, hot tears rained down his face. Despite careful breaths, his chest sobbed and ached for air. Obi-Wan, ever-ready to help, held his arms out. His own voice caught in his throat. But Cody understood nevertheless and let himself fall into the hug as tears streaked down his face.</p><p>They sat in silence. Where Obi-Wan’s shoulder met his neck, Cody cried quietly. No Generals or Commanders. No Jedi or Clone. Just two weary men who are trying their hardest, even if it never seemed enough. Hands held each other in place, a <em> thanks </em> and a <em> don't leave </em> in knotted fabric. He cried as he denied himself so often. For brothers lost and for brothers here with him in suffering. He cried without making a sound in his friend's arms.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, there was nothing left in him to cry. His grasps to Obi-Wan's robes loosened. "Cody, I didn't mean for us to argue just as you were waking up and I apologize for that." But Obi-Wan didn't let go. Not that Cody wanted to leave.</p><p>"I'm sorry too. You were just worried."</p><p>"There's no need for you to apologize, you are doing the best you can in an unfortunate situation. I didn't have the full picture." His chest breathed slowly under Cody's head. A heart broken and mended too many times beat on still. “My anger comes from concern at the truth of it all.”</p><p>“I know.” And Cody did. They shared that, the violent concern for those they loved.</p><p>"And as someone who was unfortunately in charge of 'raising' Anakin, your faulty machinery allegory does not work." Cody huffed half a laugh. </p><p>"Yeah, but he's a bit of a mess."</p><p>"True, but he also fixes them." Cody bit back his observations of Anakin "fixing" things. "Gives them what they need to survive." Obi-Wan sighed, a painful memory resurfaced. "There are... some jedi tricks to help with seizures-"</p><p>"-I want nothing I can't share with my <em> vode </em>." They were all suffering.</p><p>"I'm more than happy to help them too."</p><p>"No offense, Kenobi, but you are already bad at overextending yourself and then not telling anyone." In a way, Obi-Wan was as stuck as the <em> vode </em> were. They were in this together, a hell with each other.</p><p>"I've gotten better." He pouted, despite what he may argue. "I tell you."</p><p>"When you're half drunk or half passed out from blood loss, sure, you tell me." And Cody smirked up at him, much to his annoyance. The hand in his hair slid down his back and away. A serious look crossed his face as he struggled to ask a worrying question.</p><p>"How many of our men have seizures?"</p><p>"I truly don't know. Plausible deniability and all that." They were safer that way. Cody was in charge of keeping them safe. "Plus, technically I didn't know I was having a seizure. I always thought those were migraine attacks." Obi-Wan grimaced at that, for so long Cody had suffered alone. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answers for."</p><p>"But I do, Cody." Obi-Wan kept a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I care about our men and it's about time I did something to help them."</p><p>"I'll let you know if I think of a way you can help." Cody sat up fully. The room swirled like oil in water in his eyes. "Thinking's hard." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes with a smile. </p><p>"Surely it couldn't be from the seizure-"</p><p>"-yes yes alright." And for all the pain they felt, they managed to share a laugh. Short but sweet. That reminded Obi-Wan. He crossed the room to his desk and pulled out a chocolate bar.</p><p>"Here, eat this. You need calcium." Cody accepted the offered chocolate, grateful his was still hidden away. Though his body revolted at the idea, Cody broke off a small piece and popped it in his mouth. "I'm going to tell Knockout that we are quarantining together."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"It's going to take a bit to recover, maybe two days."</p><p>"You seem to know a lot about seizures." He knew better than to ask directly. Obi-Wan's past was shrouded in mystery, he reasoned with purpose. </p><p>"It's... not a fun story, as you can imagine." Cody nodded and ate another bit of chocolate. "But let me care for you this time. I'm just going say I caught the Stewjon flu, and we are not sure if you are carrying it, so you need to stay here." Cody nodded. A tired relief washed over him. He wasn't alone anymore. He and Obi-Wan had done many impossible things together. He wasn't alone anymore.</p><p>"It will give us time to come up with a plan as well." And a smile equal to his own rose on Obi-Wan's face.</p><p>"Thank you." Cody managed to admit despite the dizzying vision and the reluctant snack. </p><p>"We're a team, Cody Dear. I would want no one else by my side." Though Cody may not trust Obi-Wan all the way, he believed in his words. Just this once, perhaps, he could let himself trust in him. "We will find a way to save our men. If anyone can, it would be us."</p><p>And Cody found that trust waiting for him. Just as Obi-Wan does in their unwise friendship, it waited for him.</p><p> </p><p>"If anyone can, of course it would be us." He whispered back. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks whollyjoly for betareading!</p><p>Knockout is an OC. As a cadet training in medics, he freaked out once and knocked out his screaming batchmate and everyone decided that was his name.</p><p>Cody, in his first month, learned about how "efficient" his men could be and that is why if he sees one lone boot anywhere, he gets a distant look in his eyes. Rex has recieved the drunken angry rant many times about The Boot.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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